The Marathon Swimming World Is Skeptical Of A 64-Year-Old's Record Swim From Cuba To Florida

Some hardcore marathon swimmers are questioning the validity of
Diana Nyad's historic swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida
last week.

The accusations range from petty (she had someone help her eat)
to serious (she got on the boat at one point), and they're
popping up on various
swimming forums online.

Nyad, age 64, is the first person to ever make the 110-mile swim
unaided.

Here's what the skeptics are saying:

It's strange that Nyad didn't
have someone continuously film the entire 53-hour swim

There was no independent news
media following the entire race, which there were during her
past attempts

There was a spike in her swim
speed in the middle part of the race, and then a return to her
normal pace at the end — which some are speculating means she
got on the boat

The two independent observers on her support boat knew Nyad

Nyad maintains that she didn't cheat, and swam every stroke of
the 110 miles.

Her team says she got a boost from a rare, once-a-month current
that peaked at 4 miles per hour during the swim's second day —
which accounts for the spike in speed that her critics find
skeptical. A scientist
told the New York Times that this explanation makes sense,
and that she hit the current at the exact right time.

Most of the other criticisms from Nyad's skeptics have to do with
marathon swimming etiquette.

Commenters say that the fact that handlers helped Nyad eat and
apply cream cheapen her accomplishment. In addition, her wetsuit
and jellyfish mask wouldn't have been allowed under English
Channel swimming rules, though Nyad never said she was going to
follow those rules.

One commentator even accused her of swimming too slowly (which is
ironic since she's also being accused of going too fast),
writing, "Unbelievably slow. So slow one has to question whether
to call it swimming."